Tim Lincecum survives shaky outing in Giants' win over Phillies

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants spent the first five innings Sunday holding their breath as Tim Lincecum labored. Now they're holding their breath until they find out more about the dislocated left pinkie finger of second baseman Joe Panik.

Lincecum allowed 12 base runners over five innings but limited the damage enough to earn his first win since July 11 as the Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 at AT&T Park. The Giants also picked up ground on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second straight day and now sit 3½ games back in the National League West.

But now there's a fear the Giants could spend some time without the hot bat of Panik, who was injured making a headfirst dive into second base in the eighth inning. The pinkie was popped back into place by head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner, and Panik was replaced on defense in the ninth. He said X-rays didn't show a break.

"It's really going to be how it reacts tomorrow," Panik said. "Right now it's sore. It's going to be sore. It's just one of those things."

Panik referred to himself as day-to-day, and manager Bruce Bochy wasn't ready to consider what the Giants will do if Panik is out for an extended period. The team was flying to Chicago on Sunday night and has a day off Monday before beginning a three-game series with the Cubs on Tuesday.

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"We'll talk about that when we're on the flight headed to Chicago," Bochy said. "My hope is it's not too bad. It really depends on how sore this is going to be tomorrow. The day off's coming at a good time for him."

Panik, a rookie who went 2 for 4 on Sunday, is hitting .419 over his past 12 games and .282 in 36 games on the season while solidifying the once shaky second base spot.

"He's really helped us here, and he's doing great," said Michael Morse, who went 3 for 3 and has reached base his last nine plate appearances. "He's proved why he should be here, and he's a big league player. He's a big part of this team and this organization, so I hope he's all right."

Panik remains hopeful that it's not serious and won't disrupt his season just as he's found his comfort level.

"It's one of those things when everything's going well, you don't want any setbacks," Panik said. "Thankfully, as of now, it's not broken, so it's good. You just don't want those things to happen and linger at this point in the season."

Lincecum had struggled in his previous four starts, allowing 20 runs and 28 hits in 17 innings. He wasn't great Sunday but found a way to last long enough for the win.

"I just tried to do my best to grind it out," Lincecum said. "Things weren't doing what I wanted them to do earlier. They started to a little bit later, but by that time my pitch count got up. I just did my best to grind it out, eke it out and leave everything on the field. I know I didn't have my best stuff."

Lincecum (10-8) was helped by catcher Andrew Susac, who threw out the speedy Ben Revere trying to steal second in the first inning. The first four Phillies batters reached base, but that caught stealing helped limit them to one run.

Philadelphia left seven men on base in the first three innings and had Lincecum on the ropes in the fifth. He hit Marlon Byrd leading off the inning and had a 3-1 count on Grady Sizemore before inducing a double-play grounder.

Lincecum was lifted after five innings and 97 pitches. Javier Lopez, Jean Machi, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla combined to strike out nine batters, a season-high for the Giants bullpen, over four scoreless innings.

"I thought Timmy's gutty effort saved us, because that game could've got out of hand there," Bochy said. "Of course, the bullpen stepped up. What a great job they did."